At CCSU Graduation, Larson Touts Public Service Program

U.S. Rep. John Larson tells Central graduates his plan for letting public service ease student debt.

HARTFORD — U. S. Rep. John B. Larson used Central Connecticut State University's undergraduate commencement Saturday to announce legislation intended to allow college graduates to trade public service for student loan relief.

More than 1,700 graduates collected their diplomas at Central's graduation at the XL Center in Hartford, and many cheered when the East Hartford Democrat described his plan to ease student debt.

Larson told the graduates and their families that fewer than 1 percent of the nation's 320 million citizens serve in the armed forces, the Peace Corp or other service organizations, such as Teach for America, AmeriCorps or AmeriCorps Vista. Many are turned away because the government does have the money to hire all who apply, he said.

And while the nation has been at war for 13 years, a very small segment of the population has "borne the burden and sacrifice for the entire country," said Larson, who graduated from Central in 1971.

"A republic like ours cannot long survive if only 1 percent of the nation is required to carry all of our burdens," he said. "As citizens we cannot defer responsibility to the few what is the task of the many."

To turn away those who want to serve, Larson said, is a waste of human resources.

"So many people want to serve, want to give back to their country, their communities," he said. "It seems to me we should be encouraging the impulse to serve, not stifling it."

And there should be practical incentives to get people to serve, he said.

"To those ends I want to announce today that Congressman Joe Kennedy and I are introducing legislation that will revamp, enhance and develop a new form of selective service for the nation — one where you select the service that best suits your talents, your ambitions and goals, and in return a grateful nation will help you also," he said.

Since the government holds the vast majority of student debt, it makes sense for the government to forgive debt in return for public service, Larson said.

"After all, if the nation can bail out and forgive Wall Street after the worst financial crisis since the great depression, can we not help those that are burdened with the most crushing debt of a generation," he asked.

He told the graduates that they should not have to put their lives on hold because of student debt. "We should not place students … in the situation where they have to forego the opportunity to start a family, forego the opportunity to buy a home because they're burdened with a debt," he said.

Larson said the goal with the legislation is to create a cabinet-level direction of national service to oversee a program that provides incentives to those who serve.

Among those earning their degrees Saturday was Ron Farina, who earned a bachelor of arts in special studies. He began his studies at Central in 1965, but then left to serve in the Marine Corps in Vietnam.

He went on to a successful career as a corporate recruiter, but returned to Central in recent years to fulfill a life's goal and earn his college degree. Farina, 67, is working on a memoir called "Full Time, A Vietnam Veteran's Experience Returning to College."

A 16-year-old also received a diploma Saturday. Idris Fatona Hanafi, who turned 16 May 10, earned a degree in computer science. The West Haven resident, who was home0schooled, first attended community college at age 11 before enrolling at Central.

He said he enjoys creating applications for smartphones and sees technology as the future. He said his next step is graduate school.